UK coronavirus live: Johnson says Britain prepared for more 'wretched Covid' as some pupils return to school

PM also claims workers heading back to offices ‘in huge numbers’; Gavin Williamson to face MPs after exams fiasco Downing Street lobby briefing – SummaryDecision due soon on exam delayGap between rich and poor pupils in England ‘grows by 46% in a year’Little room for manoeuvre as UK Covid cases increaseLatest global coronavirus updates 2.50pm BST Matt Hancock, the health secretary, is taking questions in the Commons now. There is a live feed at the top of the blog.In response to the first question, from Labour’s Sam Tarry, who claimed that the test and trace system was repeatedly failing to hit its target for the number of contacts of people testing positive reached and advised to self-isolate (80% is the goal), Hancock said the most recent figures showed 84.3% of contacts were reached, where contact details were provided.Test and Trace has a target of reaching 80% of contacts of people who have tested positive. The target has now been missed for nine weeks in a row. pic.twitter.com/9bhvDvzuaJ 2.21pm BST No 10 issued its downbeat assessment for the prospects of the trade talks with the EU (see 1.57pm) as the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, met his opposite number, Michel Barnier, in London to prepare for formal talks next week, a round deemed critical by Brussels if a deal is to be reached before the end of the year. France’s EU affairs minister, Clément Beaune, warned that no deal was a risk, but blamed the British government for the impasse. “Things are not advancing because the UK would like to have its cake and eat it: to leave the European Union and have access to the European market.”We have been engaging constructively and in good faith. Michel Barnier said at the end of the last round of negotiations that we have shown flexibility by taking note of Prime Minister Johnson’s three red lines and working on them. We have not seen, however, a reciprocal effort on the UK’s side regarding European priorities. We are now waiting for the UK to present concrete and constructive proposals. Continue reading…
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